State seeking ice-out info

AUGUSTA — Maine residents who eagerly await that well-anticipated moment known as "ice out" on Maine's lakes and ponds now can share it with their friends, neighbors and the rest of the state.

The Boating Facilities Division (BFD) of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, under the Maine Department of Conservation, is compiling ice-out information on its website and is asking Mainers to help out.

The division website already contains historical information for ice-out dates on major lakes going back to 2003. Division officials now would like Mainers to send in the ice-out dates for their lakes or ponds for posting on the website.

The site also contains webcams for several major lakes, including Sebago, Moosehead at Beaver Cove and Sebec.

"Spring ice out is an important moment for lots of people in Maine, including water-access camp owners and recreationists," said George Powell, BFD director. "People want to know so they can get out and about, and anglers want to know so they can fish."

Anyone with ice-out information is asked to e-mail the division when ice out occurs on a specific water body so it can be posted on the website.

There are roughly 2,800 "great ponds" in Maine, defined as water bodies of 10 acres or more or dammed water bodies of 30 acres or more, the division director said. There are "many, many, many more" smaller lakes and ponds, between 5,000 to 7,000 water bodies, defined as private ponds, he said.

While the exact definition of "ice out" can be a favorite debate in Maine, for the purpose of the web page it is defined as "when you can navigate unimpeded from one end of the water body to the other. There may still be ice in coves or along the shoreline, but when a person can traverse the entire water body without being stopped by ice flows, we will consider the ice to be out," the website states.

One of the earliest ice-outs occurred last year on March 3 on Sebago Lake, and the "Big Bay" area of the lake did not freeze solid all winter, according to the website. The latest ice out so far recorded in the past eight years was on May 9, 2008, Powell said. Last year's latest ice out was April 26, while it was April 28 in 2009.

Send all ice-out information to Timothy.thurston@maine.gov.

For the Maine Lake Ice Out Information website, go to http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/boating/ice_out11.html.